Sunday, December 12, 2010

guy and madeline on a park bench

Being a fan of indie flicks is a May - December relationship, armed with not much more than a brief synopsis and a trailer, if that, you often go in on a flick and sometimes come way very disappointed. This past week i caught a flick i had very little to go on, guy and madeline on a park bench. Described as a jazz musical, it caught my eye given my love of jazz and growing love for musicals.

Without going in too deep on the synopsis, first -time director Damien Chazelle creates a jazzy yet sometimes stark and frustrating landscape focused on the boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, boy leaves girl narrative. Title characters Guy, a musician whose first love will always be music, and Madeline, a girl searching for something, anything in life interact with a series of interesting people throughout the film ultimately to meet again in its final scene.

What struck me at times was the director's reliance on the actors to use their facial expressions and solely that - the movie is not heavy on dialogue. While frustrating at times, with sober second thought the realism it conveyed was spot on. The up and down moments of relationships and life in general don't often come accompanied with "coffee is for closer" type speeches. Its the look on your partner's face that is the indicator that you've messed up.

I should have written this when the movie was in town last week, but it may return. If it does, its definitely worth a viewing.